Thespesia populnea (portia tree).

Abstract

Abstract A small to medium-sized evergreen tree, with a rather dense crown and spreading branches (Troup et al., 1975) which reaches about 18 m in height. It has showy, bell-shaped yellow flowers, long-petioled, heart-shaped leaves, and a tough, fibrous bark. It is indigenous to tropical Asia, but has been widely planted throughout tropical regions, including Africa, and coastal woodlands in the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Neotropics. The seed floats in sea water, and can remain viable in sea water for more than a year, making natural distribution by sea currents possible (Nakanishi, 1989). It prefers well-drained sandy, gravelly and rocky soils derived from coral limestone and volcanic parent materials, and it is salt-tolerant (Desale et al., 1989). It is often found close to, but not growing in, mangrove forests which are occasionally inundated, or on saline sands behind mangrove forests (Siddiqi et al., 1995; Sosef et al., 1998; Morton, 1976). In India growth is reported to be rapid, and it flowers and fruits throughout the year (Sosef et al., 1998). In the Caribbean, flowering occurs primarily from April to January (Parrotta, 1994). T. populnea can be easily raised from seed and from cuttings, usually branch or shoot cuttings up to 2 m in length and 10 cm in diameter, although smaller cuttings are generally preferred (Parrotta, 1994). In India it is often planted to consolidate bunds and ridges in aqua-silvicultural systems for prawn production, or along the coast as protection against erosion (Latiff and Faridah Hanum, 1997; Harikrishnan, 1993). It produces a fine-grained, durable wood (density 400 to 770 kg/cubic metre at 15% moisture content), with a red-brown to dark brown heartwood and a sharply differentiated white sapwood. The wood is valued for furniture, flooring, musical instruments, mouldings, utensils and vehicle bodies. The wood is durable under water, and is therefore used for boat-building. The bark is also utilized for caulking and rope. The wood and a yellow gum from the fruits and flowers yield a dye, and core-wood has medicinal uses. It is a sacred tree in many parts of the Pacific, often planted near temples, and is also grown as an ornamental and roadside tree. Planting T. populnea is outlawed, or strongly discouraged, in some cotton-growing areas, as it is an alternative host of several damaging cotton pests, including the cotton weevil (Anthonomus grandis grandis), the red cotton bug (Dysdercus cingulatus), the Indian dusky cotton bug (Oxycarenus laetus), and Pyroderces simplex (Parrotta, 1994).